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Igniting a Spark in the Market

The drive is on to find an alternative to fossil fuel to power the 31 million vehicles on Britain’s roads including 2.6 million in Scotland - one car for every two people. Electric cars could provide the solution and North-east academics are playing a key role in helping identify what motorists will expect from them.

The University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Transport Research has been awarded funding by the UK Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) to explore who will buy and use electric vehicles as well as the performance levels they will expect from them.

The ETI is a national company formed from global industries and the UK Government to create affordable, reliable, clean energy for heat, power and transport.

The outcomes of the study will feed into ETI’s plans for the world’s most extensive evaluation of consumer’s attitudes to plug-in vehicles which will guide investment.

“The UK can be a world leader in electric and low carbon cars which is why the Government has already committed around £400 million of support to encourage development and uptake of ultra-low emission vehicle,” LordAdonis, the Transport Secretary, said earlier this year.

“Our aim is for electric and low carbon cars to be an everyday feature of life on UK’s roads in less than five years.”

He was speaking at the launch of the Plugged-In Places initiative will support the development of the first electric car cities and regions across the UK which will act as trailblazers for electric car technology. The experiences of these locations will inform the future development of a national charging infrastructure.

Overall, the Government is investing around £400m to encourage the development, manufacture and use of next generation ultra-low carbon vehicles.

From January next year drivers will get a quarter off the value of their chosen electric or plug-in hybrid car, up to a maximum of pounds £5,000.

The aim is to make the price of an electric car comparable with that of a conventional fuel car, making them more attractive to families and commuters.

The Plug-in Car Grant will work in a similar way to the Government’s car scrappage scheme, in that the value of the grant will be taken off the price of the car at the point of purchase, with dealers able to claim the subsidy back.

These initiatives are being put in place to help meet the UK’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions from transport; as well as creating new business opportunities for UK-based companies in the automotive and charging infrastructure sectors.

Aberdeen University is one of six partners undertaking research as part of ETI’s £11 million low carbon vehicle plan to support the roll-out of plug-in electric vehicles to the UK market.

Nissan recently announced plans to build the world’s first mass produced electric car in Sunderland with production scheduled to start in 2013 and forming part of a £420 million investment in electric cars by the Japanese company.

Dr Jillian Anable, who is leading the Aberdeen study, said: “Identifying the key factors which will influence consumers to purchase electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be crucial to successfully rolling out the concept to the wider market.”

She said their research would be focused on cars powered purely by electricity and battery powered cars with a top up petrol facility, the reverse of the majority of hybrids on the road at the moment.

“Our particular role is to look at the consumer side and understand what consumer segments exist out there or are likely to exist in the near-term.

“Who is likely to be attracted to purchasing these vehicles? Where do they live? How much are they prepared to pay? How might they use the cars when they get them?”

She said they would be looking not just at the “early adopters” but also the “early majority” – consumers who will buy the cars if they prove to be successful with those who are prepared to take an early risk with them.

“Our research will focus on building a profile of the types of people who would buy this kind of vehicle — from their attitudes, through to their age groups and whether they live rurally or in the city. We also need to understand whether people might use these vehicles differently to the ones they own now.

“The practicalities of using an electric vehicle will be explored looking at, for example, how long people are willing to wait for the vehicle to charge and whether they are most likely to charge them at home, at the supermarket or at work.

“People who have off street parking and garages will be able to plug them in at home. Others will need facilities at supermarkets or at car parks or at work. It will have to be in a variety of ways. There are a lot of scenarios out there so maybe there will be some cars in which you go to the filling station to swap the batteries instead of buying fuel - that is a possibility being discussed.

“Travel patterns are such that most cars aren’t used for more than about 20 miles a day and although the batteries at the moment can do more than 20 miles a day the problem is people’s perceptions. They still don’t seem to want anything with a range less than about 100 or 150 miles. We will try to get to the bottom of current travel patterns, examine the feasibility for electric vehicles, and then look at people’s attitudes and perceptions and anxieties about the technology and therefore whether they are actually likely to buy them.”